I just got back from a longer bike ride, as I forgot about October school break and went to Davidsons Mains for volunteering, only to find the school deserted. On the way, I was told at least 5 times that the front light on my bike is on. Of course, it was on, and will always be, but this just shows me two things:

• There are a lot of really friendly people out there
• Bikes have a long way to go before they're accepted as a real alternative to conventional means of transportation

Think about motorcycles: for years, there has been a law that requires motorcycles to have lights on, even during the day. It's simply a safety thing: if your light is on, you're more easily seen. So why isn't it the same with bikes?
Well, you'll say, bike lights run on batteries (which run out after a while) or these old dynamos that make a huge amount of noise, start slipping as soon as there is a drop of water on the tyre, and make you feel as though you're going up a steep hill all the time. This is certainly true, but there are very good hub dynamos available for bikes that cause almost no drag and, combined with the right set of LED-lights, simply give you no reason to turn off the lights on your bike at all. Of course, they are expensive (as I was told today: "you have too much money"). But why?
Well, the reason is simply that consumers are not willing to invest in good lighting for their bikes, which keeps demand for these things low and makes them expensive. The bike is something used for leisure or sport, so why spend lots of money on a good lighting system?
I suggest a different approach: if we're serious about reducing emissions, we need to get more people to cycle. Therefore, we need to make sure bikes are seen as a real alternative to the car - and this includes a reliable lighting system, especially in the winter, when most of the cycling is done in darkness. This shouldn't be an extra people with "too much money" have on their bikes, it should simply be the standard. The only reason that bike lighting is not on the same standard as car lighting is the comparatively minimal demand for it. Maybe, if the British government required dynamo-powered lights on all bikes (as is standard in Germany), this would make more people invest in it. But also, if more people start using real lights on their bike, other cyclists will notice and realise that there are alternatives to these battery-powered lights out there. Alternatives where your battery doesn't run out when you most need it, and where you can actually see in pitch dark and are never caught off guard without your lights.
I'll try and make a point in stopping (if possible) every time someone reminds me that my light is on and explain why.

They caused over 17,000 deaths in 2005 in Scotland alone(1). They pollute the air. They contribute heavily to this country's obesity epidemic. There were 33.4 million of them in Britain in 2006, that's more than 1 every two people(2,3). They are a real health hazard, and a pain in the ass.

When I was just cycling to work, they constantly got in the way. They would pull out of a side road in front of me without signalling, slow me down at lights, as I have to make my way past the line of them. If there weren't so many of them, I would probably be at work in about 2/3 of the time it takes me now. Plus, they are a real danger. If one of them were to hit me (and that might happen faster than one would think, given the number of people I see making right turns while chatting on their phones, steering and shifting all with one hand), I'd be done for. Especially if it's one of these huge monsters you seem to see more and more of these days. If something with a record of killing 17,000 people in a year threatens my life, the reasonable thing would be to call the police.

But for some reason I think they would laugh at me. Actually, the government is supporting this killing. They are widening roads, investing in new roads, to allow the killers more room. And they will happily take the extra room you give them. It's shown that extending roads doesn't ease traffic congestion, it just causes more people to get on the road and fill the space.

But the car manufacturers have done such a good job telling us that we have a "right to drive," that the car offers "freedom," is "liberating." That's exactly what the joyful faces I see in cars as I zoom past them every morning express: liberation, a feeling of freedom from oppression. I'm sure that's also the feeling you get when you get your insurance bills, pay your fuel bill - I'm free! How liberating!

Hey isolate us from each other, each of us sitting in our little box. They make us grow fat - once you start using them, you can't go without them. You end up using them for every frustrating short journey, not realising that you spend more time sitting at lights and looking for a parking spot than driving. And when you realise that your waist starts expanding, you buy into the next craze: you sign up to a fitness studio to pay someone to make you feel as though you're living healthily. But I'm going off topic now.

One of the most fundamental things we need to do to improve our lives is very simple: stop buying into the religion that is car ownership, the bullshit that car manufacturers push on us, and free ourselves from excessive fuel and insurance bills - drive less! Use public transport, go for a walk, get on your bike!

Your head will thank you - you won't arrive at work drained and angry, but full of energy.
Your body will thank you - if you move a little, you won't feel like eating crap all the time, but crave a salad from time to time, starting a circle of healthier living.
Your wallet will thank you - petrol is getting more expensive all the time, you can cancel that parking permit and maybe even sell your parking spot to someone else who likes to feel frustrated sometimes? Oh, and cancel that gym membership, you never go anyway.

And, finally, the planet will thank you.

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(1) Road Accidents Statistics Scotland
(2) Department for Transport, Vehicle Licensing statistics
(3) National Statistics Online, Population Statistics